The Hornet was Dodge's attempt to bring muscle-car attitude to the most practical segment on the market. Now but it's was discontinued. And thank God.
We wanted to see if the Dodge Hornet had any potential outside of being the thing you get in to grab the groceries. So naturally we tried it out as a rally car. We made it 3 minutes before a tire blew, and we then found out there's no spare. We weren't impressed.
While the ride was impressively smooth on a gravel road when we were going 40mph. And the seats were very comfortable. But the compliments pretty much end there.
The Dodge Hornet carries a nameplate with roots going back to the Hudson Hornet of the 50s and AMC's compact of the '70s. This thing is sold by an American muscle brand, while being built in Italy, with Alfa Romeo in its DNA. It has the Alfa Romeo Tonale base, and it's built alongside the Tonale at the Stellantis Giambattista Vico assembly plant in Naples, Italy. But this is no Alfa
On paper, it's a subcompact SUV. Where other small SUVs might be lucky to exceed 150 horsepower, the Hornet GT somehow gets to 268 horsepower. This is paired with a nine-speed automatic. I can't really comment on the gears as we never made it out of 4th before the tire blew.
For 2024, Dodge added the model that got most of the headlines: the R/T, a plug-in hybrid with about 30 miles of all-electric driving range. Which isn't nothing, but it's nothing to write home about either. It ditches the GT's 2.0-liter turbo for a 1.3-liter turbo four, then adds 90 kW of electric boost for a total of 288 horsepower and 383 lb-ft of torque. The rear electric motor handles power for the rear wheels exclusively, and Dodge claims a 0–60 mph time of 5.6 seconds. Even I'll admit, that's not bad.
The R/T also has a party trick called PowerShot, which delivers a temporary burst of extra power on demand. Again, we didn't get to try this before the tire blew, but it's a bit gimmicky to say the least. Your grocery runner doesn't need a push to pass system.
Fuel economy is another weak spot of the GT. The EPA rates it at 21 city/29 highway/24 combined mpg. If you can't get MPG out of this car, what's the point? You're certainly not buying this thing for it's looks.
The interior design is modern with a lot of buttons all over the place. The paddle shifters (yes this thing has paddle sifters) are not attached to the steering wheel. Again, another gimmick but if you're going to do a gimmick do it right! Put the paddles on the wheel, there is no point in having paddle shifters you can't use if you're turning the wheel.
Kelley Blue Book listed used 2024 Hornets from $19,400 for the GT to $24,800 for the R/T Plus, and discontinuation will likely continue pushed values down further since. That means you can get an all-wheel-drive, Italian-built SUV with plenty of tech for less than the price of a new Corolla. And you'll wish you spent the money to get a soulless Corolla.
The obvious concern is long-term support for a discontinued model. Dodge says it's committed to ensuring Hornet owners continue to receive customer support, service, warranty coverage and parts supply, and Stellantis's dealer network isn't going anywhere. The Hornet may be dead because it was one of the worst selling cars in the US, it's prices may have plummeted, it makes for a terrible rally car. Overall it's not our favorite car, but other than that it's terrible.
